


Introduction to limerence and allusions

by Ivyaugust



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Childhood Friends, Everyone but Troy and Abed are just background characters, Friends to Lovers, I tried to keep it vague and light as I could while still making my point, M/M, This is basically a Mary’s song AU for all u Taylor Swift fans out there hahaha, also some homophobia :(((, mention of drugs, there is some ableism in here so beware of people being assholes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 07:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29746725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ivyaugust/pseuds/Ivyaugust
Summary: For Lee, MY best friend. ❤️
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 7
Kudos: 46





	Introduction to limerence and allusions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jabedalien](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jabedalien/gifts).



> For Lee, MY best friend. ❤️

Troy was seven years old the day that the new family moved into the house across the street. He had spent the entire day in the front yard, watching the movers take furniture into the house, aimlessly swinging back and forth in his tire swing. He wondered what the inside of the house looked like, and if he would like the new neighbors. But despite all his curiosity, he was still nervous when his mother made him change into clean clothes and follow her across the street to introduce themselves. He kept his hand in his pocket, secretly holding onto his favorite rock for good luck. His mother had already taken his first lucky rock, he couldn’t risk losing this one too. 

He stood on the front step, eager and unsure of what to expect on the other side of the door. His mother rapped the door loudly, three hard knocks. Not even a minute later, the door creaked open and two wide brown eyes peeked around to stare at them. The brown eyes belonged to a young boy. He was quiet, just watching them, waiting for them to state their business. 

“Abed!” A voice came from deep in the house. “What did I tell you about opening the door for strangers?” A man appeared behind the young boy. “Sorry,” he apologized. “Abed isn’t very good with strangers.”

Troy’s mother laughed, and introduced herself and Troy. “We live across the street,” she said. “I heard about your… situation… and I wanted to offer my condolences. If you ever need anything at all, please don’t be afraid to ask.” Troy’s mother’s voice was so full of pity that Troy assumed that this was an adult conversation now. He was more interested in the other boy anyway. 

“Mommy, can I play with Abed?” He asked, staring up at his mother and giving her the best puppy dog eyes he could. 

She gave him a weird look, but eventually sighed and agreed. “Yes, but play nice Troy.” She warned, turning back to her conversation with Abed’s father. “I don’t know how you do it.” 

Troy stopped listening. 

…

Troy took Abed to his backyard, excited to show off his trampoline, but Abed didn’t seem excited at all. 

“Have you ever been on a trampoline?” He asked, holding Abed’s hand to cross the street like his mother had taught him.

Abed stared at their joined hands. “No. They look cool. But my baba says they’re dangerous.” He said flatly, his eyes still lowered towards their hands. 

“Your baba? What’s that?” Troy asked. 

“You would call him my dad.”

“Oh. Okay.” Troy was still a little confused, but he let it go. “What about your mom? Does she have a weird name too? And does she like trampolines?”

“I just call her mom. But I don’t know if she likes trampolines. I haven’t seen her in a long time. Baba says she lives far away now.” Abed got really quiet. “He says he will explain more when I’m older, but I know that she left because of me.” 

Troy didn’t know what to say to that. He hadn’t even spent one day without seeing his parents in his entire life. He settled on “I'm sorry.” He decided to change the subject. “How old are you?”

“I’m nine and three quarters in a week.” Abed said.

“Cool! What does that mean?”

“It means I’m almost nine years and nine months old.” Abed said matter of factly, nodding proudly. 

Troy nodded back in amazement. They fell silent as they turned the corner into Troy’s backyard and their eyes fell on the trampoline. Troy broke into a run, determined to beat Abed there, but when he stopped at the trampoline and turned to announce his victory, Abed was a few feet away, still walking calmly. Troy watched, confused, but quickly shrugged it off and climbed onto the trampoline. 

“Hey Abed! Look what I can do!!” 

…

Troy and Abed became best friends quickly. Neither of them had anyone else on their block to play with, so every day they would ride their bikes in circles and dig holes in Abed’s backyard. The trampoline became their clubhouse, and they’d sit on it to rest when they were out of breath or sweaty. They spent all their time together, finding ways to make their summer interesting and eventful before the dread of school returned and they’d be forced to separate for their respective classes. 

Abed’s father sent him outside every morning at 10 AM, so Troy had started getting up earlier to join him. 

“He says I can’t spend the entire summer in front of the tv,” Abed said sadly one morning, poking the ground in front of him with a stick. “But that’s not fair, because I just wanted to watch Mister Rogers Neighborhood, and he just said that I should play with my real friend before you lost interest.” 

Troy was used to Abed saying things like this at this point, and he was fairly certain that Abed was used to him not having an answer. But today he did. “Come on,” Troy smiled. “Let’s go inside.”

He led Abed inside his house and up the stairs to his bedroom, where a small television sat on top of his dresser. “Sit down,” he said, pointed to his bed. Abed sat and watched as Troy pulled a chair across the room and stood on it to turn on his tv. 

“Have you ever seen Reading Rainbow?” He asked excitedly. 

Abed shook his head. “Is it any good?” He asked suspiciously. 

“It’s _the best!_ ”

They sat and watched Reading Rainbow until Troy’s mother came up the stairs and found them laying side by side in the bed. She got upset and turned the tv off, ordering them to go back outside. They agree sadly, but shared a secret smile as Troy laced his fingers with Abed to lead him back down the stairs to the backyard. 

… 

“I’m just worried they’re getting a little too close…” Troy heard his mother whispering over the dinner table, as if Troy and Abed weren’t even there. Abed sat across from Troy at the table, next to his father. They kicked each other under the table occasionally, getting each other’s attention. They had invented a language over the weekend and they were taking this dinner as an opportunity to use it. 

“Please, Eve.” Abed’s father sighed. “They’re kids. It’s harmless. It’s good for Abed to spend time with Troy.” 

“You didn’t see them holding hands in the yard earlier.” Troy’s mom huffed. 

Abed’s eyes were glued to his plate, pushing all the asparagus away from his mashed potatoes. Troy kicked him under the table, bringing Abed’s eyes back up to him. The corner of his mouth crooked up into a small smile. 

_”our parents are dumb.”_ Troy joked, using their language. 

Abed made a face. _”I want to leave,”_ he responded. 

Troy stood up, ignoring the weird looks from their parents and picking up his plate. 

“We’re gonna finish dinner in the clubhouse.” He said nonchalantly, nodding for Abed to follow him. He did, hopping up and grabbing his plate excitedly. 

As they walked away, Troy heard his mother raise her voice. “See what I’m saying, Gobi? They’re out of control! They’re gonna- they’re- they’re gonna fall in love with each other!” 

Troy tried not to think about what that meant. He didn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to love Abed. He loved his dad, and his older brother, so why couldn’t he love Abed too? Abed was his favorite person. 

… 

“Do you love me?” Troy asked one day, sitting cross legged across from Abed on the trampoline. “Cuz I think I love you.” 

Abed raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“My mom says we’re in love. I love you, but I wasn’t sure if you loved me.” 

Abed wrinkled his nose. “I think I do, but I’m not sure. Han and Leia are in love, but we don’t act much like they do.”

Troy nodded. “That’s true. They kiss each other and stuff.”

They both sat quietly for a while, thinking about it. 

“Maybe we should kiss.” Troy said. “Like Han and Leia. And then we will know if we’re in love.”

“Okay.” Abed agreed. “I’ve watched it in some movies, but I’ve never kissed anyone before.”

“Not even your mom or dad?” 

Abed shook his head. 

“That’s okay.” Troy nodded. “I’ll show you. Just do what I do.” He leaned forward, closing his eyes tightly and puckering his lips. 

He leaned forward until he felt his lips touch Abed’s. They kissed each other fast, their lips making a loud smooching sound before they pulled away quickly. 

They just stared at each other.

“How do we know that it worked?” Abed asked. 

“I don’t know. Do you love me now?” 

“I think so.”

… 

The summers Troy and Abed spent together were eternal, but somehow they were always brought to abrupt endings by the dreaded school year. Troy hated school even more than usual now, because it meant that he didn’t get to spend time with Abed. He spent most days in class staring off into space and wondering what Abed was doing in his classes, which often got him lectured by his teachers about focusing on his work. Then he would get home with a mountain of homework and ask to spend time with Abed, but his mother would only give him the same lecture that his teachers had given him. 

So they didn’t see each other much, unless Troy needed help with his math homework. He already wasn’t very good, but he found that if he failed a math test that his father would throw his hands up in frustration, walk him across the street, and hand Abed a five dollar bill to tutor Troy. So he did that for a while, until that stopped working. 

But when summers came around… they were in paradise. They spent hours upon hours together, sitting underneath the willow tree in Abed’s backyard. Sometimes Abed would read to Troy, usually a book that Troy didn’t understand very well. He really liked Frankenstein, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He would have preferred to listen to Abed read forever, but Abed insisted that he liked it when Troy read too, so he would stumble through Goosebump books, and Abed would correct him when he misread something. 

On the days that were too hot to read, they would ride their bikes to the public pool and Troy would practice his front flips into the cool water until the lifeguard shouted at him and made them leave. The day that one of Troy’s tires popped when he rode over a nail, he cried because he thought he’d be stuck at home for the rest of the summer. But Abed had a solution, like always, and he taught Troy how to ride on his handlebars. 

“I saw it in a movie once,” Abed panted as he peddled them up the hill to the pool. “I think it’s something that people do when they love each other.” 

Troy was interested in hearing about all the things people do when they’re in love with each other, and he asked about it often. Abed always seemed to have an answer. Eventually he showed Troy that he had been keeping a list in one of his notebooks, checking things off as he went through the summer. “Next is _buy them something._ ” Abed stated, pointing his mechanical pencil at item number six on the list. 

That day Troy rode on Abed’s handlebars to the grocery store, where Abed bought a bottle of diet squirt with his allowance. They sat on the curb outside and shared it, and talked for over an hour about which superpowers they would want the most and least. 

So yeah. Things were good. Troy and Abed were joined at the hip, and they were both happier for it. Abed’s father didn’t mind. He seemed to like the time to himself, and he always seemed like he was in a better mood on the days that Abed spent time with Troy. But Troy’s parent were still another story. 

… 

One Saturday morning, after his cereal and cartoons, Troy was sitting at the dining room table and doing up the Velcro on his shoes, ready for a day at the pool with Abed, when his mother came in with a stern look on her face. 

“You’re twelve now, Troy. It’s time for you to start growing up. You’re coming with me to Denver today,” she announced. “We have shopping to do.” 

Troy tried to protest, to tell her he already had plans, but her mind was made up. 

“You’re too close to that boy, Troy.” She lectured as she gathered her things and led him out to the car. “You’re getting too old to have that sort of relationship with him. People will- they’ll…” she sighed. “People will think there’s something wrong with you. Your father doesn’t want you to damage your- our- reputation.”

Troy didn’t answer. He just stared sadly across the street and waved, hoping that Abed was watching out the window. He hoped Abed wouldn’t think that Troy had ditched him. 

Troy was confused. All he knew was Abed. They had been friends longer than he could remember. He didn’t understand why other people would care if they were friends. 

“You can’t just… go around.. saying that you’re in love with your friends, Troy. It’s acceptable when you’re a child, but you’re going to be a teenager now, and you need to learn how to be more modest.” 

He sat in the backseat, even though he was old enough to sit in the front now, because he didn’t want his mom to see him crying silently all the way to the city. 

… 

That night, after Troy’s parents had gone to bed, he slid his bedroom window open as slowly as possible, careful not to make any noise, and crawled out onto the roof. He stood there for a moment, realizing that this was a stupid idea and that he didn’t know how to get down, before he remembered that he could jump down onto his trampoline. Even Troy knew that this sounded like an extremely stupid idea, but he was determined to make it work. 

He stood on the side of the roof and took a deep breath before letting himself fall backward, trying to land as safely as possible. He still landed weird, but he didn’t bounce back up and onto the ground like he feared he would. He rubbed his shoulder as he dragged himself off the trampoline and to his feet, shuffling his way through the yard and across the street. 

He found himself at Abed’s window a moment later. He knocked timidly. Pause. One more knock for good measure. 

The window creaked open and Abed peeked out. “Hey Troy.” He didn’t even sound surprised to see him. “What happened to you today?”

“It’s a long story. But it ends with my mom saying that we’re not allowed to hang out anymore.”

Abed hadn’t even been smiling, but his face still fell. His eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. “What? Why not?”

Troy shrugged. “She says boys can’t be friends the way we’re friends. I know that means that she thinks I’m gay, but I’m obviously not.”

“So, what are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know.” 

They both just stared at each other, both sadder than they wanted to admit aloud. 

Finally Troy stepped back. “I guess I’ll… see you around..?”

Abed smiled sadly. “Yeah. Maybe. See you.” He waved as he shut the window. 

Troy walked home, and the wind suddenly felt colder. That might have been because of the tears now streaking his cheeks. He crossed his lawn with a downright angry stride and right through his front door, no longer afraid of making noise. He had just given up his best friend, who cares about anything at all?

… 

Troy took a deep breath, straightened his jacket, and walked through the huge double doors that lead into his new school. He wasn’t scared of high school, that’s what he had told himself all morning. It’s like middle school, only… higher. Right? 

He went through most of his day in a blur, meeting new people and flirting with his new biology partner, Annie. He went to football tryouts, just like he promised his parents he would, and he did just as well as he had expected to, and at the end of the day he walked home alone. 

School was weird. Most days it felt like he didn’t know anyone there, and then some days he would catch a glimpse of Abed. He had to be a junior now, and he seemed to spend most of his time with an older blonde girl. Troy probably almost walked up and said hi about a hundred times, but he was too chicken. Abed probably didn’t care about him anymore, and maybe he would think Troy was crazy for not moving on by now. 

So instead he stuck with his new friends, no matter how boring they were. No matter the terrible things they said and did. 

…

“Troy!! Troy!! Pay attention!” His coach called out to him just as he tripped and face planted into the grass. 

He groaned. “Sorry coach.”

“What the hell is going on with you today?”

“Nothing; I’m just tired. I’m sorry.” He stood up and brushed himself off. The truth was that Abed and his blonde friend were sitting on the bleachers, and Troy was more than curious about what they were up to and why. The blonde was smoking a cigarette, running her hands through her hair and running her hand up and down Abed’s arm. 

Troy was trying to focus, he really was, but it was really hard when she was holding her cigarette up to his lips for him to take a puff. It got even harder after Abed exhaled the smoke and immediately turned to press his lips to the blonde girl’s cheek. 

Okay. So. Blonde girl is Abed’s girlfriend now. Shit. He was still staring and his teammates had taken notice. 

Apparently so had Abed, who gave Troy a little head tilt and a wave. Troy felt homesick. 

…

“Why were you staring at them?” Jeff asked in the locker room after practice. 

“Who?” Troy said, pretending not to know what Jeff meant. 

“You know who. Abed and Britta.” 

Jeff was a senior, and a lousy kicker. He mostly stuck around in the sport to keep his reputation up. Troy liked him well enough, but he could be a major dick when he wanted to be. 

“I wasn’t staring at them.” Troy lied. “But uh.. What can you tell me about the girl? Britta, you said?” 

Jeff wiggled his eyebrows. “Oh, so you like Abed’s girl, huh?” He teased. 

“No! I’m just curious.” 

Jeff rolled his eyes. “Yeah, good luck with that. I’ve tried, but she’s stuck to that kid like glue. She’s a senior, like me. A bit odd, but in an endearing way. She’s been with that weirdo since he was a freshman though. They don’t really talk to anyone but each other.”

He sounded bitter about this, but Troy tried not to question that. What bothered him more was the way that Jeff referred to Abed. 

“Why do you call him a weirdo?” He tried to sound nonchalant, and not like his feelings were a little hurt by Jeff calling Abed weird. 

“If you talk to him, you’ll know.” 

…

Troy tried to keep his distance from Abed and Britta, but that proved to be impossible. They were everywhere. They sat together at the table next to his every day at lunch, and they spent every break under the bleachers smoking and laughing. Troy tried not to care, he really really did. But it sucked. It made him a little angry, knowing that Abed was right here and that neither of them had even tried to repair what was broken all those years ago. Maybe that’s why he did what he did. 

He was walking down the hall one day with Jeff when Abed gave Troy his usual casual wave and his trademark gentle smile, and Troy felt something in him snap. 

“Why is he waving at you?” Jeff’s friend Alan asked. “Are you friends with that dumbass?” 

“N-no.” Troy felt his stomach drop. “I don’t know. I’ve never even spoken to him.” 

Alan laughed. “What are you waving at, short-bus?” He called to Abed. 

Abed hardly reacted. He just turned back to Britta, but before Troy knew what was happening, Alan was pushing Abed into the lockers, laughing the entire time. 

Jeff just rolled his eyes, shaking his head, but Alan looked to Troy expectantly. Troy panicked. 

“Y-yeah.. Uh. Leave me alone.. fucking weirdo..” Troy mumbled, trying not to look Abed in the eye. Alan gave Abed one more good, hard shove before turning back to Troy and offering him a high five. Troy took the high five guiltily and tried not to look back at Abed’s sad, confused eyes as he walked away. He felt sick, and he didn’t feel like he recognized himself. But he didn’t want to be tossed out of his new group of friends either, so he swallowed it. 

…

The next few weeks of school were miserable. Troy avoided eye contact with Abed everywhere he went, and Abed didn’t wave anymore. Sometimes he would accidentally catch Britta’s death stares from across the room, and it always made him feel like the biggest dick in the world. Who was he kidding, he _was_ the biggest dick in the world. 

He was more than relieved when the semester came to an end. He had barely kept his grades up enough to stay in football, but he had made it, and now he was free for the summer. 

Well, mostly free. He had gotten a summer job at the movie theater, so most of his nights were spent cleaning popcorn and soda off of theater floors. But the extra $150 a week was going towards a car after he got his license next year, so he tolerated it. 

Until the second week of summer, on a Friday night, when Abed walked in with Britta on his arm. 

“Shit. Hide me.” Troy mumbled to Annie, who had applied at the theater as soon as she heard that Troy was going to be working there. He ducked under the counter, trying not to breathe as Britta ordered for the both of them. Diet squirt, popcorn, red vines. Abed hadn’t changed. 

When they walked away, Troy popped back up, smoothing his shirt. 

“What was that about?” Annie pried. 

“Don’t worry about it. Long story.” 

She didn’t, and most of the night went okay after that. Until about an hour later, after almost everyone else had gone home and Troy was cleaning the concession bar.

He turned around and basically jumped a mile. Abed was standing at the counter. 

“Shit, Abed, you gave me a heart attack. You can’t just sneak up on people like that.” 

Abed frowned. “Sorry. Can I just get my free refill?” He shook the empty popcorn bucket in his hand, rattling the kernels at the bottom for emphasis. 

Troy nodded, taking it from him and turning to fill it back up. The silence between them was deafening. 

“Thanks.” Abed said when he handed it back to him. He turned to leave, but then spun back to Troy for a moment with his finger in the air. “What you said to me wasn’t nice. I understand if you don’t like me anymore, most people don’t. But I didn’t deserve that.” He didn’t wait for Troy to answer before he turned again and walked away as quickly as he had appeared. 

…

Troy walked home that night, shivering despite the air being fairly warm. He turned Abed’s words over in his head and kicked himself every couple of seconds. He wished he could take it all back. He wished he could go back to the first day of school and befriend Abed all over again. It would’ve been messy, complicated even, with how opposed to Abed his parents were. But it would’ve felt more right than this did. 

He turned into his yard, but he couldn’t stand to go inside yet, so he took a seat on the curb, staring at the willow tree across the street. The leaves rustled softly in the summer wind, taking Troy back to the days spent listening to Abed read beneath their shade. 

As if he had willed him into existence, at that moment a shitty beat up van skidded to a stop in front of Abed’s house just long enough for someone to hop out and slam the side door. When the van pulled away, Abed stood on the other side of it. 

He stared at Troy, and Troy stared back. 

“I’m sorry.” Troy called out to him, and he meant it. “For what I said. You were right. You didn’t deserve that.” 

Abed just stared at him a little longer. Troy wished he could see his face in the moonlight, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to tell what Abed was thinking anyway. After a moment, Abed began walking toward him and took a seat next to him on the curb. 

“Thank you. That means a lot.” 

“No problem, man.”

They sat in an awkward silence. Troy hoped Abed wouldn’t get up. He had missed him so much, and he had so many things he wanted to say to him, but he didn’t know where to start. 

“So..” He tried. “Britta seems cool.”

“She is. Very Winona Ryder.” Abed agreed. 

“I don’t know who that is.” 

“Yes you do. She’s in Beetlejuice, Heathers, Mermaids, Little Women-” 

“Oh.” Troy cut him off. “Yeah, you’re right. Very Winona Writer.”

“Ryder.” 

“Right, that’s what I said.”

Abed stood. “I should probably get home. It’s kinda late.” He said, checking his watch.

“Wait!” Troy surprised himself, hopping to his feet. “I was thinking about.. Going to jump on my trampoline. Do you.. Want to come with me?” 

Abed smiled, and this time Troy could see it. The moon lit his face nicely, making all his rough angles look soft. “Sure. I guess I have some time.” 

…

Troy lay on his back on the trampoline with Abed by his side as they stared up at the stars.

“Tell me about Britta,” Troy said. “How did you guys get together?”

“Britta?” Abed sounded confused. “We’re not together. She’s kinda like… my muse. She likes to feel like she has someone to take care of, and I like her company. She has a very inspiring energy. She’s the kind of girl that men will write books about someday.” 

Troy laughed. “Really? She looks a little mean.” 

“She is. _IF_ you fuck with her. Or me. She and I, we’re really all each other have. But that’s not nothing, so it’s nice.” 

“You have me.” Troy said sadly, turning to look at Abed. 

Abed turned to look at him back. “Do I?” 

Troy was quiet for a moment. They both looked back up at the sky. “I know I was mean, and that I’m the one who ended our friendship, but I’ll always be here for you Abed. You’re like… family.” 

“Family. Cool. Cool cool cool.” Abed nodded. “I still love you, if you still love me.” 

Troy swallowed hard. He didn’t know how to respond to that, but he was tired of being distant from Abed, so he told the truth. “Always, buddy.” He smiled. 

Abed offered Troy his hand. Troy took it.  
…

Troy hadn’t meant to fall asleep on the trampoline. He was confused when he woke up outside, face to face with Abed, who also looked a little dazed and confused. 

Troy sat up and rubbed his eyes. “What happened?”

“I think we fell asleep.”

“Duh.” Troy groaned, realizing how much his back hurt. “I think maybe.. You should go before my parents see us.”

Abed nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry.” He said, rolling off the trampoline and picking his bag up off the ground. He frowned when he noticed it soaked with dew. “Want to do something later?”

Troy turned and looked back at his house warily, and then back at Abed. “Actually, can I come with you now? I’m not thrilled about my parents wondering where I was last night.”

The corners of Abed’s mouth turned up a little. “Cool. Lets go.” 

Troy followed Abed back to his house, where they showered and ate breakfast. Gobi watched them like they were zoo animals, confused and fascinated, but not upset. He didn’t ask questions when Abed told him that he and Troy were going out for the day. Just nodded and gave a thumbs up. 

“It’s good to have you around again, Troy.” Gobi said casually, barely looking up from his newspaper. 

…

Troy’s parents didn’t stay in the dark forever. It was hard to hide Abed from them when he was leaving with him every day in Abed’s beat up little subaru. They weren’t happy about it, and they made it known, but Troy was trying to get better about ignoring them when it came to Abed. The bottom line was that he and Abed enjoyed their time together, and he wasn’t going to just let Abed go all over again. 

Sometimes they hung out with Britta, who wasn’t too keen on Troy, but mostly they hung out together. When Britta did come along, she complained about how Troy was stealing Abed from her. But then Troy would point out how her car smelled like garbage, weed and cigarettes, and she would stop talking and turn up whatever weird cd she had in the radio, and Abed would smile at Troy in the rearview mirror. 

When Troy wasn’t working, he was with Abed. They went hiking, they went to movies, and they ate at almost every restaurant in town, even though Abed ordered chicken tenders at almost every single one. 

“Britta won’t let me eat chicken when she’s around.” Abed said, dipping his tender into a glob of ketchup before taking a big bite. “She says I’m completely heartless.” He mumbled through a mouthful of food. 

“That’s unfair.” Troy said, biting into his meatball sub. “You may be heartless, but she’s tasteless.” He mumbled back. 

“Cheers to that, my everyday friend.” Abed grinned, lifting his chicken tender to toast with Troy, who lifted his sandwich in response. 

… 

The summer passed quickly, and before they knew it, school was just around the corner. Britta was packing for school in New York, and Troy’s summer job had come to an end. For the last week of summer, Abed was just sad. 

“I don’t know how I’m going to manage senior year without Britta,” He said wistfully one day, after watching Britta drive away, leaving them in a cloud of exhaust. Abed reached into his bag and pulled out a joint. “This was her going away gift to me.” He looked at it hard. “It almost feels wrong to smoke it.”

“Yeah, it sucks.” Troy agreed. “But you have me now, so you won’t be alone.” 

Abed smiled at him gently. “You’re not going back to your football friends?”

“Are you kidding me? Of course not. They aren’t even half as cool as you are.” He grinned back, nudging Abed with his shoulder. 

Abed looked down at his feet bashfully, but quickly shrugged the blush off and raised the joint. “Are we gonna smoke this, or what?”

…

Troy had never smoked weed before, but Abed was a good teacher. He coughed a lot, but he felt high almost immediately. They sat on the swings at the park down the street from their houses, passing the joint back and forth and giggling. When the joint was gone, they swung for a while. Troy watched his feet swing up towards the clouds, and he listened to the creaking of their swings and Abed’s gentle humming from beside him. He couldn’t remember ever being happier than this. 

Suddenly he dropped his legs, dragging his feet through the gravel and pulling his swing to a halt. Abed followed suit and gave him a confused look. 

“I love you.” Troy said seriously. 

“I know.” Abed said, nodding. “I love you too.” 

“No, Abed. I _love_ you. In the way that my parents are going to murder me for.” 

Abed stared at him. 

“I love you in a really awkward, serious way. Like, in a ‘die for you,’ Han Solo and Princess Leia kind of way.” He felt like he was going to throw up a little from the reality of what he was saying, but it was true, and his brain to mouth filter was working even worse now than usual. He thought if Abed didn’t answer him soon that he might burst into tears, or just drop dead. Right here, in a children's park of all places. 

Abed’s eyes searched Troy’s face anxiously. “Are you making a joke right now? I can’t tell.” 

“No, Abed. This would be a terrible joke.” 

Abed stood from his swing, and Troy stood too, nervous about what was about to happen. He imagined Abed walking away without another word and never talking to him again. But instead Abed just stood in front of him, looking him in the eye more than Abed had in their entire lives together. 

“Can I kiss you right now?” Abed asked awkwardly, his fists clenching and unclenching wildly at his sides. 

Troy’s mouth felt so dry, and he felt like he had never a drink of water before in his entire life, but he pushed that to the back of his mind and nodded. “Yes.” He whispered. “Kiss me.”

Abed stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Troy’s neck and pressing his lips to his. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but Troy closed his eyes and drank in every bit of it. The way Abed smelled, the way his arms felt around him, the way Abed’s leg was shaking and twitching, and the way that Abed took a deep breath when he pulled away. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, staring down at his leg, still twitching. “Stupid stim.” 

Troy didn’t care. He didn’t even know what the heck that meant. He laughed. “Do you love me now?” 

Abed smiled. “Nice callback, but I’m going to ruin it now. I do love you. Without a doubt.” 

…

Needless to say, Troy’s parents were overwhelmingly angry when he came out to them, gripping Abed’s hand and squeaking the toe of his tennis shoe on the kitchen floor. His mom cried. His dad screamed a lot. They both insisted that this was a phase, and that Troy would regret it. Troy cried too. But Gobi let Troy stay with him and Abed until Troy’s parents calmed down, which happened to be.. About two years.

Actually, Troy’s parents never calmed down, but once Troy graduated from high school, he and Abed were still going strong and fully prepared to face the crushing weight of the real world coming their way. 

They rented a shitty apartment downtown, and enrolled in community college, and got part time jobs at the school, because it saved them money on tuition. Abed tutored on weekends, and Troy did maintenance, which he hated, but it was worth it to be able to afford the life they were building together. 

To say they were happy would be an understatement. They spent their days off on the couch, doing their homework together and watching almost everything Netflix had to offer. They built forts in their living room, and tried to learn how to bake (which never went well), and even hung photos of themselves all over the walls among the various and ever changing collection of movie posters. 

When they graduated, they both realized that they had no idea what the next step was. After a few weeks of mulling it over, they had separately come to the same conclusion. Troy was going to go ring shopping on a sunday morning, but the saturday before that, Abed had basically shoved Troy into the car and drove him to the park down the street from their childhood homes. 

The park was even shittier than Troy remembered, and the paint was chipping horribly from all the equipment, but he sat down on the swing anyway, pushing back and forth gently with his feet. Abed just stood and stared with a dopey grin on his face. 

“What?” Troy asked. “Are you gonna tell me why we’re here?” 

Abed stepped forward and stuck his hand in his back pocket. “I actually wanted to ask you something.” He said, even more serious than usual. 

Troy froze, and his jaw dropped as Abed lowered himself onto one knee. 

“I’m not really good at this kind of-” He started, but he couldn’t get anywhere before Troy stood and threw himself into Abed, wrapping his arms around his neck.

“Yes, Abed. Of course, yes, please, anytime, anyday. I’ll marry you.” He pulled back, staring into Abed’s eyes. 

Abed frowned. “You didn’t let me finish.” 

“Oh. Sorry.” He pulled away, sitting cross legged in front of Abed. “Please continue.” 

Abed cleared his throat. “As I was saying. I’m not good at this kind of thing, but I know I’m good at loving you. I’ve been good at it since I was nine years old, and it might be the only thing I’ve ever been good at-”

“Shut up.” Troy interjected. “You’re wrong about that.”

Abed stared at him unblinkingly. 

“Sorry, I’ll stop interrupting.” 

“What I’m trying to say is… Troy, I love you. I love you in a way that your parents would murder me for. In a ‘die for you,’ Han Solo and Princess Leia kind of way. I’ve loved you for what feels like my entire life, and I’d like that to last for the rest of my life. If you know what I mean. That being... Would you like to marry me?” 

“Can I talk now?”

“Please do.” 

“Yes, Abed. A thousand times yes.” 

…

Twenty minutes before the wedding, Troy stood awkwardly in front of the mirror in his makeshift dressing room. He didn’t have cold feet per say, but he was terrified. He was terrified of all the possibilities in front of them, and how many things they could do wrong or right. He thought about how Abed talks about different timelines, and tried not to think about how there is definitely a timeline where he and Abed didn’t find each other. 

He remembered the little boy he used to know, his eyes just as gentle and bright then as they are now, and thought about how much has changed since then. Across the hallway, that man is waiting for him. Waiting to spend the rest of his life with Troy. 

Troy dreamed of his future often, but today it was clearer than ever. He could see it all now. Abed would become a director. His dream would come true. Troy would teach dance to a small group of kids. And in a few years, their adoption papers would go through, and they’d end up with a beautiful set of twin girls. They would raise them much better than Troy’s parents had tried to raise him, with the freedom to do what makes them happy, and to be themselves. They would hold them and kiss them, and love them more than they ever thought imaginable. And then when they grew up, fell in love and moved away, Troy and Abed would grow old together. 

Old and grey, they’d still love each other as much as they had when they were children, jumping up and down on the trampoline in Troy’s backyard, without a clue of what was to come. Troy smiled at that thought. 

A knock on the door startled him back into the present, and Britta’s head popped into the room. “Hey dork,” she grinned. “Are you ready to get married?”

Troy stood and dusted off his jacket. “Do I look okay?”

“You look very handsome, Troy. Like a man in love.” 

He smiled. “Then let's do this. I have some things I’m looking forward to later.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make it all worthwhile!!!  
> Follow my tumblr @ butterednoodlesjules ❤️✨


End file.
